The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1887-06-02
a war sYsssel, geing ont through the
NarTows. sailors In new rig singing
A life for the ocean wave v
A home on the rolling deepl

that ship as It comes out or that engage
ment, its decks red with human blood,
wheelhouse gone, the cabins pile Of
shattered mirrors and destroyed furniture,
steering wheel broken, ,smokestack crushed,
a hundred-pound Whitworth rife shot
having left its mark from port to star
board, the shreuds rent away, ladders
splintered, and decks plowed up, and
smoke blackened and scalded corpses lying
among those who are gasping their last
gasp far away from home and kindred,
whom they love as much as we love wife
and parents and children. Not waiting un-
til you are dead to put upon your graves a
wreath of recognition, this hour we put on
your living brow the garland of nations
praise.
o, men of the Western Gulf squadron,
of thea Eastern Gulf squadron, of the
South Atlantic squadron, of the North At
lantic squadron, of the Mississippi squad
ron, Of the Pacific squadron, of the West
India squadron, and of the Potomac flo
tilla, hear our thanks! Take the benedic-
ton of our churches. Accept the hospi-
talities of the nation. If we had our way
we would get you not only pension, but a
home and a princely wardrobe, and an
equipage and banquet while you live,
and after your departure o catafalque aud
a mausoleum of sculptured marble, with a
model Of the ship in which you won the
day. 1t is considered gallant thing when
in a naval fight the flagship with its blue
ensign goes ahead up river or into bay,
its admiral standing in the shreuds watch
Ing and giving orders. But have to tell
you, veterans of the American navy!
if you are as loyal to Christ as you were to
the Government there is flagship sailing
ahead of you of which Christ is the ad-
miral, and he watches from the shrouds,
and the heavens are the blue ensign, and
he leads you towards the harbor, and all
the broadsides of earth and hell cannot
damage you, and ye, whose garments we're
once red with your own blood, shall have
robe washed and made white in the blood
of the Lamb. Then strike eight bells!
High noon in heaven!
"With such anticipation, veterans of
the American navy! l charge You bear up
under the aches and weaknesses that you
still carry from the war times. You are not
as stalwart as you would have been but for
that nervous strain and for that terrific ex-
posure. Let every ache and pain, instead
Of depressing, remind you Of your fidelity.
The sinking Of the Weehawken off Morris
Island, Dec. 6, 1863, was a mystery. She
was not under fire. The sea was not rough.
But Admiral Dahlgren from the deck of the
flag steamer Philadelphia saw her gradually
sinking, and finally she struck the ground,
but the fac still hoated above the wave in
the sight Of the shipping. 1t was after
wards found that she sank from weakness
through injuries in previous service. Her
plate had been knocked loose In previous
times. So you have, in nerve and muscle
and bone and dimmed evesi0ht and difficult
hearing ana 5nortne5s OF DreaCn, many In
timations that you are gradually going
down. It is the service Of twenty three
years ago that is telling on you. Be of
good cheer. We owe you just as much as
though your life blood had gurgled through
the scuppers Of the ship in the Red River
expedition or as though you had gone down
with the Melville off Hatteras. Only keep
your flag flying as did Weehawken.
Good cheer, my boys The memory Of
man is poor, and all that talk about the
country never forgetting those who fought
for it is an untruth. 1t does forget. Wit
ness how the veteran sometimes had to turn
the hand organs on the street to get their
families living. Witness how ruthlessly
some of them have been turned out Of
office that some bloat Of politician might
take their place. Witness the fact that
there is not q man or woman now under 30
years Of age who has any full appreciation
OF the four years martyrdom of 1861 to 1865
inclusive. But while men may forget, God
never forgets. He remembers the SWIM
ming hammock. He remembers the FORE
castle He remembers the frozen ropes Of
that January tempest. He remembers the
amputation without sufficient ether. He
remembers the horrors of that deafening
night when forts from both sides belched
on you their fury and the heavens glowed
with the ascending and descending missiles
of death, and your ship quaked under the
recoil of the l0O-pounder, while all the
gunners, according to command, stood on
tiptoe, with mouth wide open, lest the con-
cussion shatter hearing or brain. He re-
members ii all better than you remember
it, and in some shape reward will be given.
God is the best of all paymasters, and for
those who do their whole duty to Him and
the world the pension awarded is an ever
lasting heaven.
Sometimes off the coast of England the
royal family have inspected the British
navy, mapeuvered before them for that
purpose. In the Baltic sea the Gear and
Czarina have reviewed the Russian navy.
To bring before the American people the
debt they owe to the navy 1 go out with
you on the Atlantic Ocean, where there is
plenty of room, and in imagination review
the war shipping of our three great conflicts,
1776, 1872, and 1875. Swing into line, all
We frigates, ironclads, fire-rafts, gunboats,
and men-of- f-warl There they come, all
sail set anG all furnaces in full blast,
sheaves of crystal tossing from their cut
ting prows. That is the Delaware, an old
revolutionary craft, commanded by Com
modore Decatur. Yonder goes the Con-
stitution, Commodore Hull commanding.
There is the Chesapeake, commanded by
Capt. Lawrence, whose dying words were
"Don't give up the Ship" and the Niagara,
of 1912, commanded by Commodore Perry,
who wrote on the back of an old letter,
resting on his navy cap: 1--WE have met
the enemy and they are ours" Yonder is
the flagship Wabash, Admiral Dupont COM
manding; yonder, the flagship Minnesota,
Admiral Goldsborough commanding; yon-
Dahlgren commanding; yonder, the flag
ship San Jacinto, Admiral Bailey COM
manding; yonder, the flagship Black Hawk,
Admiral Porter commanding; yonder, the
flag steamer Benton, Admiral Foote COM
manding; yonler, the flagship Hartford,
David Glascoe Farragut commanding. And
now all the squadrons of all departments,
from smallest tugboat 10 mightiest man. Of
war, are in procession, decks and rigging
filed with the men who fought on the sea
for the old flag ever since we we're Nnation.
Grandest feet the world ever saw. Sail on
before all oges Run up all the colorsl
Ping the bellsl Yea, open all the port
holesl Unlimber the guns and load and
f re one great broadside that shall shake
the continents in honor of peace and the
eternity Of the American unionl
But I lift my hand, and the scene has
vanished. Many of the ships have dropped
under the crystal pavement of the deep,
sea monsters swimming in and out the
forsaken cabin, and other old craft have
swung into the navy yards, and many Of
the brave spirits who trod their decks had
gone up to the Eternal fortress, from